The invention relates to foam plastic shock-absorbing packing devices used in containers for protecting objects during shipment.
Fragile or breakable objects are frequently packed or packaged with special shock-absorbent material, such as polyethylene foam or other expanded plastics. These materials are generally light in weight and highly shock-absorbent, and consequently afford excellent protection against breakage or damage during shipment and handling.
Foam plastic packing devices of this type can be used to protect articles, equipment, or other objects of various sizes, weights and fragilities. Typically, the object is placed in a container and suitably cushioned, by interposing the shock-absorbent foam plastic materials or packing devices between the inner surface of the container and the object. Such packing materials and devices play an important role for transported items such as computers and electronic instruments that must arrive at their ultimate destination undamaged.
Often the foam plastic material that best serves the purpose of protection is in the form of a configuration, rather than simple blocks or chips. Efforts have been made to provide configured foam plastic devices inexpensively and conveniently. One approach is to cut a block of foam plastic material, so that elements of it are hinged. The hinged elements can then be folded out to form a configured device suitable for the item to be protected or for the container in which the protected item is to be shipped.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,854,650 shows such an approach, in which standing portions are hingedly pivoted from a flat portion, and locked into place. In another approach, depending legs of foam plastic material are pivoted down from a flat portion, leaving a central cavity and a collar of foam material. The collar is expandable by means of slits that form an expanded grid when the opposite ends of the collar are pulled apart.